Can a Creditor Call Me At My Job?

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Open Laptop - KeyboardHave you ever had a creditor or debt collector call you at work?  After the shock of the call wears off, you wonder “can they do that, is that legal?”  The answer of whether it is legal in North Carolina depends on your specific situation.

North Carolina General Statutes, Article 2, Section 75-52 outlines what is considered harassment by a debt collector.   Subsection 4 specifically addresses phone calls made by debt collectors to an individual’s place of work.  There are two key component to this subsection that help determine whether calling you at work is considered legal under the North Carolina Statutes.

Did you provide your work telephone number to the creditor or debt collector at any point in time thus telling them it is okay to contact you at work?

Does the creditor or debt collector have another telephone number to contact you at during non-working hours?

If you provided the debt collector your work telephone number, you may have unintentionally given them permission to contact you at work.  As a result, you want to correct that problem by telling the creditor or debt collector that the work telephone number is no longer a good number to reach you, and you are requesting they no longer contact you at that telephone number.  In addition, you will need to provide another telephone number they can contact you at during non-working hours.  If you do not provide the creditor or debt collector with another valid telephone number where they can contact you, they may continue to contact you at work even if you have asked them to stop calling you there.  Why, because the work number is the only telephone number they have to contact you.

You can easily stop creditors or debt collectors from contacting you at work,  however, you must provide them with an alternative number you can be reached during non-working hours.

How Do I Know If There Is A Lawsuit Or Judgment Against Me?

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We get this question often!  The answer for the most part is quite simple.  If you have been sued, unless you have changed your address and have not updated it through the post office, you likely have received notices that were being sued.  To understand the process of a lawsuit better, check out the blog post we wrote about whether bankruptcy can help you if you have a judgment.

Young Family Sitting in Front of House

Should you be a person who has moved and slipped through the cracks, finding out if judgments are against you is still a quite simple matter.  You will need to go to the Clerk of Court for the county that you are (or in the case of moving, were in) and have them do a judgment search on you.  They can pull up the person/creditor who sued you, date it was entered into the court system, amount you owed at the time of the lawsuit, what the daily interest is and the amount you currently owe.  For example, if you lived in Union County, North Carolina for the past 9 years and you just now moved to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina,  your judgments are likely still registered in Union County. Therefore you will need to check there first. (But checking in your current county of residence isn’t going to hurt anything either!)

From that point, you will need to determine if the suit has attached to any real property you may own.  For example, let’s say for our purposes, you have lived in Mecklenburg County for the past 10 years and never moved, you own your home by yourself and there is a judgment against you.  Once that judgment is placed against you, it will automatically attach itself to your home.  If you have previously been sued , you will need to discuss that with your attorney to make sure the proper steps are taken to remove that judgment from your credit, especially if there is a lien involved.

If you have a lawsuit or judgment against you then you may want to contact a Charlotte bankruptcy lawyer, Greensboro bankruptcy attorney or Winston-Salem bankruptcy lawyer to learn more about your rights.

What Is a Tax Lien and a Tax Levy?

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April 15 Circled on Calendar for Tax DateWith limited exceptions, most Americans are required to file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service, and if you work or live in North Carolina, the North Carolina Department of Revenue.  If you do not file and pay your taxes on time each year, you will incur penalties and interest on the amount of money you owe the tax entity.  Initially, the tax entity will likely work with you to establish a payment plan for the taxes you owe.  However, if you make no effort to contact and work with the taxing entity, do not be surprised if a lien is placed against all of the property you own or your wages are garnished through a tax levy.

First, let’s discuss the difference between a tax lien and a tax levy.

A tax lien is a security interest against your property.  The IRS records a tax lien with the clerk of court in the county where you live.  The lien is on all real and personal property you own including your house, car, bank accounts, clothing, household goods, etc.  As a result, you will be unable to sell your home, car or other possessions without first obtaining a release from the IRS.  In other words, the IRS will now allow you to sell your house and make a profit without being paid at least a portion of the debt that is owed to them.

A tax levy is a legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt.  With a tax levy, the IRS can seize and sell your house, car or other assets.  They can also seize your bank accounts, retirement accounts, state tax refunds and other assets.  They can also garnish wages.

By filing bankruptcy, you may be able to eliminate some of the tax debt and stop a wage garnishment while in an active bankruptcy.  If you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy to eliminate credit card, medical bill and other consumer debt, the wage garnishment will stop while you are in the bankruptcy but may resume once the bankruptcy is complete and if taxes are still owed.  In certain situations, amounts owed on taxes that were due more than three year ago may be eliminated in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  Unfortunately, if a tax lien is placed for the older tax years the tax debt may be eliminated BUT the lien is still in effect.  As a result, you may still be required to pay the taxes if you sell your house or car in the future.  As a result, you should contact the IRS and State of North Carolina and request a copy of any tax liens prior to filing bankruptcy.

You may want to consider a Chapter 13 bankruptcy to restructure your tax debt and pay the taxes over the course of three to five years.  If you decide to file bankruptcy to restructure your tax debt, it is very important you determine whether there is a tax lien before the bankruptcy is filed.  The existence of liens will impact the amount owed in the bankruptcy and will directly impact the monthly payments in a Chapter 13 repayment plan.

Tax liens and tax levies are the IRS’ and State’s way of ensuring taxes are paid by the majority of their citizens.  If taxes are owed, it is best to work with the IRS and state proactively to avoid tax liens and levies.  However, should you find yourself with a lien or levy, you may want to consider bankruptcy to restructure the payments.

Must I Get the Court’s Permission To Settle A Workers’ Comp or Personal Injury Claim While In Bankruptcy?

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If you have filed or will be filing a workers’ compensation or personal injury claim, be sure to tell your bankruptcy attorney so your potential settlement can be listed and protected in the bankruptcy.  If it is not listed and protected in your bankruptcy, you could lose the money received in the settlement.

Workers' Compensation Doctor looking at x-ray

If you have lived in North Carolina for at least two consecutive years, North Carolina General Statutes allow the settlement, regardless of the dollar amount received, to be protected in bankruptcy.  If you are required to use exemptions from another state or federal exemptions because you have not met the residency requirement as outlined in the bankruptcy code, you may not be able to fully protect the settlement in bankruptcy.  The exemptions vary by state, therefore, it is very important to discuss the potential settlement with your bankruptcy attorney before filing bankruptcy.

If you are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is necessary for you to work with your bankruptcy attorney to obtain the bankruptcy court’s permission to settle your workers’ compensation or personal injury case.  This is necessary even when you listed the potential settlement on your original bankruptcy filing.  By filing the motion and obtaining an order from the bankruptcy court to settle the claim, the total settlement is protected from the bankruptcy Trustee and your creditors assuming you are able to use North Carolina exemptions.  Therefore, the settlement is yours to assist you and your family with living expenses or to cover future medical expenses you may incur due to your injury.

If you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may or may not be required to file a motion to settle the injury claim.  If the settlement is offered while you are in an active Chapter 7, you should contact your bankruptcy attorney to determine if it will be necessary to file a motion with the court.  If the settlement occurs after your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is discharged and final decree is issued, it is not necessary to obtain the bankruptcy court’s permission to settle the claim.

As previously mentioned, it is extremely important to speak with your bankruptcy attorney about your potential workers’ compensation or personal injury settlement prior to filing your bankruptcy.  If the settlement is not protected correctly in the bankruptcy, you could lose your settlement.

What is the Difference Between A Lawsuit, Judgment and Lien?

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Many debtors get nervous when all these legal terms start to get thrown around. We are going to explain what each of these are so that you will have a better idea of what you may be dealing with. We will focus on the civil side of things and how they relate to bankruptcy filings.

Lawsuit:

Say you owe a credit card company $4,000 and you cannot afford to pay them anymore. After several months of not receiving any payment from you, they may choose to sue you for the amount you owe them. This is a lawsuit. They will file it with the court saying they want to take legal action against you for the money you owe them. Once you receive a lawsuit, you typically have 30 days to respond. It is usually best to respond because it will buy you some time so you can figure out what you would like to do before they get a judgment.

Judgment:

If you do not respond to that lawsuit within the certain amount of time, the court will set a date for a hearing. Usually at this hearing your creditor will ask for a judgment against you. This means you now have a court order that is requiring you to pay the money you owe to the creditor. If you fail to pay your creditor after they receive a judgment, the court could place a lien on the property.

Lien:

One of the most common things that can be called a lien is a mortgage. You took out a loan that is secured by a home. If a creditor obtains a judgment against you in court, that judgment could possibly attach to your home or other property as a lien. That debt that you owe the creditor for the judgment is now secured by your home or other property. You typically must satisfy (or pay) the lien off in full before you are able to sell or transfer the property. In North Carolina, a lien can last for 10 years and then be refilled for an additional 10-year period if it has not been executed or satisfied. This is another incentive to get you to pay that debt. Bankruptcy can help get that lien off your property, but an additional motion must be filed.

How Do I Write An Answer To A Complaint?

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZD3JCsEyqY&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

After a complaint is filed against you, you have 30 days to file an answer to that complaint. There are many generic forms that can be found that will help you to do this. If you use the internet to help you, make sure it is a reputable website that you are getting the information from.  As a reminder, if you are planning on filing bankruptcy, your bankruptcy attorney does not represent you in this lawsuit so they cannot help you write your answer unless the agree to do so in a separate contract.

The top part of your answer should look a lot like the top part of the complaint. It should have the state and county that the complaint was filed in, which court, District or Superior, and the case number. Make sure that all of this is exactly how it appears on the complaint. The other thing that needs to be included there is the case number that is listed on the complaint. This is very important that you put the correct case number, because this is what will link the complaint and answer together.

Pen and Paperwork

The body of the answer will have numbered bullets just like the body of the complaint. You will either admit, deny or explain you neither admit nor deny because more information is needed. You will do this by lining your answers up numerically the same way they appear in the complaint.

Make sure that you sign and date the answer with the date that you are intending to get it filed with the Clerk of Court.  You will also need to prepare what is called a Certificate of Service. This basically states you certify you filed your answer with the court and have also mailed a copy to the Plaintiff or Plaintiff’s attorney.  This also must be filed with the court when the answer is filed. You will take both of these documents to the clerk of court in whatever county the complaint was filed and tell them you need to file an answer to a complaint. They will get it filed and give you a copy that has their stamp on it.  You will need to mail a copy of this to the plaintiff’s attorney that is listed on the complaint. Doing all of this will buy you about 30 days to figure out what you want to do to remedy this situation.

What Is A Complaint? | Parts of A Civil Lawsuit

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When the sheriff shows up at your door and hands you a stack of papers with a bright yellow sheet on top, what are they actually giving you? Most likely they are giving you what is called a complaint. A complaint is the first step in initiating a lawsuit. This means that someone has filed papers with the court to begin the legal process to write some sort of wrong. Most of the complaints clients who come into our office see are ones saying they owe someone money.

Bills in Mailbox

So what does a complaint typically say? It will state which county the complaint has been filed in and whether it is in the District or Superior court for that county. The title of the complaint will also say who is filing the complaint, the plaintiff, and who they are filing it against, the defendant. The case number will also be stated in this section.  Below that it will also state why they are filing the complaint. For example, say John Smith owes ABC Bank $10,000 that is past due on a credit card. The body of the compliant will list this, along with the specifics of when the card was applied for and the actual card number.

There will also be several statements that are numbered and they will list the terms of the complaint. These typically state who the plaintiff is, where the defendant lives, that the defendant opened an account and agreed to the term and conditions of the account and that they then have failed to pay on that account. The last paragraph will state what the plaintiff wants as a remedy or result of filing the complaint. What the plaintiff will typically say they want is a judgment for the full amount the plaintiff owes plus a certain amount of interest and attorney’s fees.

It is important that you respond to the complaint by filing an answer. If you do not respond to the complaint then you will automatically be found liable for the lawsuit. The courts will view it as you failed to respond and, therefore, you admit that you owe the money and are liable to the plaintiff. The court will then issue a default judgment saying you are fully liable for the amount owed. Be sure to read our other blog post on how to respond to a complaint with an answer. Also know that if you do have a lawsuit against you bankruptcy may be an option worth exploring more.

Why Won't They Draft Payments From My Bank Account After Filing Bankruptcy?

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Writing a Check to Make PaymentsIf before filing for bankruptcy you had automatic drafts from your bank accounts to pay other bills then this may stop when you file the bankruptcy. It’s obviously important to know that these automatic drafts may stop because we want to make sure you do not get behind on things like house payments, car payments and other important bills you have.

Creditors may stop the automatic draft(s) because they want to make sure they don’t violate the automatic stay enacted by filing the bankruptcy. They don’t want to accidentally charge you money that has been wiped out in the bankruptcy. However, even if you don’t include a debt in your bankruptcy they may still stop the automatic draft(s) for precautionary measures.

If you file bankruptcy then you can contact the creditor and get them to begin to send you paper statements if necessary. We talk more about how to get statements again after filing bankruptcy in another blog post.

However, you may not be able to get automatic drafts set up right away after filing the bankruptcy. Be aware of this and be sure to plan accordingly.

Why You Might Need To Do A Quitclaim Deed Or Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure Even After Filing Bankruptcy

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Whether or not someone who files bankruptcy also needs to do a quitclaim deed or deed in lieu of foreclosure is a question that many bankruptcy attorneys and clients are asking themselves these days. A few years ago, most banks and mortgage companies (we will call them banks for this blog) foreclosed on a property – house or land – within three to four months of the bankruptcy filing. At the foreclosure sale, the bank would pay the property taxes on the house as well as any homeowner association liens on the property. For many people, that is now considered the “good ole’ days”.

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Why Have I Stopped Getting Statements or Bills After Filing Bankruptcy?

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Doing Bankruptcy Research on a ComputerWhen you have filed your bankruptcy petition and receive a case number, an automatic stay is enacted to protect you under the bankruptcy code from creditor contact, lawsuits, repossessions, foreclosures, etc.  In turn, this limits the contact a creditor may have with you.

If a creditor violates the automatic stay then they can be sanctioned by the federal court system. In order to avoid this, many creditors choose to stop sending anything that can be viewed as a collection attempt.

After your bankruptcy is filed and the creditors are notified, they are no longer allowed to send you bills trying to collect on a debt. Typically, the automatic stay is a good thing because it means the harassing phone calls and collection attempts will stop. However, many creditors will stop all forms of communication, even if you have agreed to keep paying on the debt, due to fear of violating the automatic stay. Therefore, it is important that you remember to continue to make your payments (on debts not being wiped out in the bankruptcy and regular utilities) even if you do not receive a statement each month.

If you want to continue to receive statements then there are a couple of things that you can do to try to help restart this process.

First, you can contact the creditor and explain that you filed bankruptcy and, despite that, you would like to still receive monthly statements from that creditor. Some creditors will agree to then send you monthly statements.

Second, if the first option doesn’t work then you can get the assistance of your bankruptcy lawyer. Once your bankruptcy is filed, request a letter from your bankruptcy lawyer that will give a creditor permission to send you statements or allow for other payment arrangements.  You will need to do this usually for a mortgage company where a car finance company will be sending a reaffirmation agreement, so making payments and receiving statements should not be difficult.  Other secured creditors, such as furniture companies, jewelry stores, or electronic stores, may require a letter from your lawyer as well.

The bottom line is, you may stop receiving statements or bills after filing the bankruptcy because the creditors don’t want to violate the automatic stay. Despite this, it is critical that you still make your payments on things like house, cars and monthly utility payments.